Thrifted Valentine's Day Decor

I hadn't planned to decorate for Valentine's Day. I'm not Martha Stewart for goodness sake. Who decorates for Valentine's Day? Eh, apparently me, that's who. I was scouring Pinterest (crack for the crafter) for new ideas for the kids Valentine parties at school and just saw too many sweet decorating ideas to resist.

I had several red, pinkish and purple-ish wool sweaters from ARC and Goodwill that I'd felted at Christmas time, but never used, so I cut hearts in different sizes and strung them up with embroidery floss to make a little garland.

The large white frame was thrifted from the Habitat for Humanity store. It was originally mauve with an 80's print in it. I tossed that and spray painted the frame white. The three black frames are from a local thrift store, with prints I downloaded via Sassy Sites. I made the Edgar Allen Poe quote "We loved with a love that was more than love." (in red, on the left) in Photoshop Elements because I couldn't find it in a color I really liked.

{You can download the PDF here!}

The three white candle holders - not sure that's really what they are - were also from the local thrift store, and a huge bargain for only $3! Valentine flashcard was given to me a few years ago. I need to find a better place for it...still working on that part.

In all, I spent $8 on this since I had so much of it already, The only new things are the red candles.

The kids were excited, but reminded me that Groundhog Day actually comes before Valentine's Day. Duh. I'd search Pinterest for Groundhog Day decor, but I'm afraid I'd have to re-do my mantel yet again. And, speaking of mantels... I just discovered the site 52 Mantels, where the amazing (or insane?) blogger does a new mantel each and every week. Serious cuteness and creativity. Check it out! {I will not re-do my mantle every week, I will not re-do my mantle every week, I will not re-do my mantle every week...}

Linking up to~ Twice Owned Tuesday | Blue Cricket Design | The Kurtz Corner | Uncommon Designs |

Book Review: The Dirty Life

I just finished The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food & Love, by Kristin Kimball. What a love story. {cue dreamy sigh} Kimball was a writer in NYC who gave up the comforts of city life when she fell in love with a farmer. Together, they moved to Middle-of-Nowhere, New York and revived a 500+ acre farm that had been abandoned years before. They weren't just farming for themselves though, their plan was to start a CSA that fulfilled the complete dietary needs of it's members, and then some: meat, vegetables, dairy, fruits, grains, flour, eggs and even maple syrup.

The Dirty Life isn't just the love story between Kristin and her husband though, it's also about her slow-to-develop love of farming and the blood, sweat and tears that come with it.

If you have ever loved, gardened or farmed, this is a book you'll want to read.

Lego Minifig Storage & Display Box

I admit to doing a little pride strut around the house this afternoon after finishing this project. It took all of about 10 minutes active time, with 30 minutes or so between coats of paint.

Our house has become a Lego City with three kids who love Star Wars, SpongeBob, Harry Potter, Cars and (the actual) Lego City Legos. I can't walk three feet without stepping on one of those little buggers - and they hurt!

But back to the project at hand... I've been looking for an old display box, thread box, printing press box -- anything at all with small compartments -- for a long time, but have come up empty-handed until yesterday when I spotted this shadow box frame at our local thrift store. It was still in the plastic for $3.00!

I took it apart and discarded the glass, since I want my son to be able to access it from the front. The inside was spray painted silver and the frame painted Star Wars blue. Reassemble and fill with minifigs. (The majority of ours are currently on vacation in the Lego City airplane, thus the empty spots here.)

Now that I look at it here, I think I might disassemble it again and paint the backing black with white stars to resemble the opening of the Star Wars movies.

If your little - or big - ones like Legos, check out the Star Wars Lego Birthday party we threw last summer!

Linked to: Fingerprints on the Fridge | Tidy Mom | Five Days Five Ways | A Vision to Remember | Be Different, Act Normal | Lolly Jane | Craft Envy | Funky Junk Interiors | Bacon Time | Young & Crafty | Family Ever After | I Heart Naptime | DIY Showoff | Nifty Thrifty Things | Sunday Funday | Petite Hermine |

Wooden Nickle Chore Magnets

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Am I the only one who has a hard time getting her kids to do simple "chores" like eating breakfast and getting dressed each morning? They have one true chore each week: take the laundry downstairs, clean the bathroom (meaning wipe down the sinks), or set & help clean up the dinner table. Each child keeps a chore for a week, then they switch on Sundays.

Surprisingly it's the smaller things like getting dressed or having their back packs ready for school that seem impossible to accomplish. I tried laminated chore charts where they'd mark off each task with a dry erase marker, but it was messy and the marker was always drying out or disappearing.

Then one day, as I was cleaning out the junk drawer in my kitchen, I came across a wooden nickle drink token that Hubby had brought home from a local bar eons ago. (Also found: random legos, keys from the house we lived in three houses ago, Chuck-E-Cheese tickets, and extremely old chapstick.) But a light bulb went off with the wooden nickle and I immediately ordered some from Etsy. (Search: raw wood circles, unfinished wooden circles, wooden nickles, etc.)

I printed out the kids daily tasks - words for my 6 and 7 year olds, pictures for my 4 year old - and used Mod Podge to stick them on.

You can find loose magnets at any hobby store or Walmart, and I used Tacky Glue to glue them on. It seems to work much better than hot glue.

Now the kids slide the magnets over to the left once they complete a task and slide them all back over to the right at bed time so they can start over again in the morning. Their tasks include things like eat breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth, check the calendar (for things like Show & Tell, gym class, Girl Scouts), do your homework, read a book, pick out clothes for tomorrow, pack your back pack and pick up toys.

This post is linked to: Creative Me Monday | Motivate Me Monday | Made by You Monday | Craft Catwalk | Just Something I Whipped Up | Get Your Craft On | Tuesday To Do Party |

Eating in 2012

Boy have I been a bad blogger so far this year. I guess that's because there's been a lot of doing, but not much writing about it so far.

With the Mister making a commitment to eating more vegetables this year, I've been cooking up a storm. I also joined the Cook From Your Cupboards challenge on the Frugal Kitchen message board at iVillage. Our goal is to get the processed, boxed, prepackaged junk out of the cupboards and start eating (mostly) freshly prepared foods. With only one week of the CFYC challenge under my belt we've made a noticeable dent in our pantry - and our grocery budget too!

In addition to committing to fresh, organic produce only, hubby has agreed to purchase meat from a local farmer who raises grass-fed beef. (Huge victory!) Factory farmed meat is something we've known the harsh back story on for so long, but have chosen to ignore, based solely on the high price of organic, humanely-raised meats. Ignoring how our meat is raised is something neither of us feel we can do any longer.

Factory farmed chickens (above) and cattle (below).

In general, meat is something we hope to eat a lot less of this year. When hubby and I first met, we ate meat for dinner every night, as the main attraction. Over the years we've decreased our meat consumption by about 50%, but we hope to decrease that by about 50% again this year. It has seemed unappealing - to prepare and eat - to me for about two years now and, just tonight, hubby remarked that "...it kind of makes [him] feel sick" lately.

Last night we watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, a documentary about a man who went from obese and ill to quite healthy in the matter of a year by reforming the way he eats. While it seemed a bit like an advertisement for juicing, the point really hit home with hubs: you are what you eat. Put organic vegetables into your body and you'll reap a lot more health benefits than you will with additives, preservatives, antibiotics and growth hormones.

Between that, my years of nagging, and this Ted talk (below) by Dr. Terry Wahls, who {claims to have} cured her Multiple Sclerosis through a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, the Mister is ready to make a change. I couldn't be prouder and more excited!

Happy New Year ~ Goals for 2012!

I have so many goals for this year that I can't even begin to remember them all. I was talking to hubby the other day and said something about, "One of my goals next year is to..." and he just laughed. I think I say that every five minutes.


In general, I have a lot of the same goals that I have every year: eat healthier, lose a few pounds, tone up, stop yelling at the kids so much, be more patient, get organized, keep up with the laundry...the list goes on and on (and on)!

Parenting

More specifically -- and realistically -- I want to work on my parenting. I'm impatient, I admit it. My kids drive me to the brink.of.insanity more days than I want to admit. I've had the article The One-Week Fix for Bad Behavior from Parents magazine on my fridge for since it came out in October. It includes 7 ideas or steps for becoming a better parent and changing your kids undesirable behaviors. (I hate the term "bad behavior" because much of it is natural or learned, rather than just "bad.") While I remember to employ some of the ideas from time to time, I'm still working on the first: Don't React. {Ear plugs would be a huge help to block out the whining in this step!}

Food

On a more positive note... Hubs has agreed to try eating more vegetables this year! If you're a long time follower of the blog, you know that Hubs only ate meat and potatoes when I met him. He seriously had to have a big ol' hunk of meat with every dinner - and hopefully with breakfast and lunch too. Over the past ten years I've gotten him down to a small portion of meat with dinner a few times per week. He's also grown to tolerate a few veggies like asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, squash and zucchini.

This year, though, he's agreed to go all out and try whatever I want to make. This is a huge step for him - and a huge victory for me. I've stopped making so many meals that I love because of the veggie content, so I can't wait to break out a few old recipes. And, of course, it will be SO good for Hubby's health too!

One of my many goals for the year is to get back to eating more organic, local and sustainable foods. I've already signed back up for a weekly organic produce delivery service and have been trying things that are even new to me. (See my mushroom & kale hand pies!)

Our garden should help with this goal too, though we're no where near being able to grow or preserve enough to carry us through the winter. We do hope to build on the lessons learned over the last few years and be able to grow more for canning and preserving this season.

The delivery service we're using (Door to Door Organics) also just announced that they'll begin offering milk and eggs soon as well, which I'm very excited for. Now if I can just get the Hubs to spring for some local, grass fed / free range meats and chicken, I'll be in heaven!

Another food-related goal I couldn't brush aside any longer was learning to make bread! I picked up Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day from the library a few weeks back and have been making their most basic recipe. I need to buy my own copy so I can try some other types of bread but, until then, the basic boule is highly requested in our house. That's the loaf I made tonight (I forgot to score the top of this one, so it split open.) for Hubby's potluck breakfast at work tomorrow morning.

Last but not least in the food arena is learning how to use the pressure cooker I bought over a year ago. I've heard how amazing they are, but have just been too afraid to use it so far. It also has a pressure canning system with it, which will be great for some of the produce we grow and purchase at the farmers market.

Money

I've been working on reducing our monthly grocery bill, which has meant buying less processed foods - always a good thing! Our cupboards are still bursting at the seams though, so I'm challenging myself to "cook from the cupboards" this month, buying only fresh produce and dairy products. This should help reduce our grocery bill further for the month and pay off a few bills from Christmas.

We always tend to start new years off with a spending freeze. Last year we "compacted" from January through June. We're not really planning that this year, per se, but we are making a conscious effort to not spend money on anything we don't truly need. When you live on a teacher's salary and a part time job, you have to live simply...but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Happy New Year!

I'm taking a little time off until the new year. Our Christmas was fantastically chaotic, but I seem to have caught a cold so I'm planning to lay low for a few days. See you all in the New Year. I hope you have a wonderful holiday!